Skype is a GUI disaster, i have never liked it and its pretty sad ill probably end up having to if i wish to keep using chatting to people on MSN. The Windows version is full of adverts too... i count 3x in the main window of it at the moment. Yet on OSX i get no adverts what so ever.

What also annoys me is why does Skype forget you when you sign out? i'm always having to re sign in on Windows, it appears to do the same too on Android.

Luckily Skype is supported in Trillian on Windows so i can still enjoy a nice simple contact list and chat Window, shame its not on Android and OSX too.

You can have 1 window for all conversations, and you can hide the display picture.

Although saying that, I did used to prefer WLM, but my work colleagues all used skype so I had to switch.

True. And it still supports group chats and free screen sharing.

Since 90% of all the Skype traffic goes through WLM services - it's a huge progress made to the Skype as a client. And you can get messages that someone sent when you were offline. It's a progress to Skype too. I would like to see voice chat better, as it always was better in WLM for me.

Skype is totally unreliable for text messaging, all it's got is syncing messages between devices and computers.That's the only thing that's cool in my eyes. Apart from that I actually hate messaging in Skype.

Trillian does that now for all protocols. Sadly no WP client I'm aware of, but it works well.

I've tried to embrace Skype. It is great as a VoIP service. I pay monthly for a phone number and was expecting to be able to use the mobile and desktop apps to seamlessly answer calls no matter where I am - in the field or at home. In theory, this is great and the desktop app works for what I need, but the mobile app is atrocious. I have to hit the answer button multiple times to answer a call and sometimes it doesn't pick it up. Sometimes if I'm at home and both are logged in, my desktop will ring but my phone is silent. It really makes me wonder if I miss any calls. At least there is a forwarding option. The Modern UI app is just ridiculous too. A huge amount of screen estate gone to waste. They just desperately need quality control both back and front ends.

IM clients in general I don't really use. I thought I'd just chime in on Skype.

I'll keep using pidgin to chat on the MSNP until they shut the whole protocol down. The official client has sucked for years now with all the bloated ads and social addons and default bad privacy settings.

Been using Trillian for a couple of years now, which is funny because when I first encountered it (v3), I absolutely hated it. The final version doesn't support Skype video chat, but I suppose it's on its way now that SkypeKit allows it. This is the only reason I still install Skype on people's PCs. As for WLM, I don't have that much experience, I can count the instances I have needed it on my fingers.